Since men first ventured out on perilous journeys across the sea attempts have been made to guide them safely home again. In the face of terrible odds and in the most inhospitable and treacherous environments, human skill, resourcefulness and resolve have provided the mariner with signposts of the sea. The people who designed and built lighthouses were no less heroic than the courageous individuals who manned and maintained them. This beautifully illustrated book traces the development of lighthouses from earliest times to the present day. It covers the technological advances made in light and lens systems, and describes the extraordinary feats of design and engineering that enabled lighthouses such as Eddystone and Skerryvore to be constructed. The book is rich too in the human drama of the lighthouse keeper's life, and tells stirring tales of the daily hazards of storm, fire and shipwreck, and of the courageous rescue of drowning mariners from tumultuous seas.
The author closes by looking at the future of lighthouses now that technological advances have made manned lighthouses a thing of the past, and discusses the role of tourism in the conservation and preservation of these remarkable buildings. It is illustrated throughout with spectacular colour photographs. Beacon on the Rock was previously published by Aurum Press. This is its first paperback edition.